When it comes to Indian food I'll admit that I'm definitely not an expert, but I love the layering of flavours and combination of spices used in Indian cooking. I typically associate Indian food with heavy cream-based sauces and rich flavour, so when I heard that there was an Indian restaurant offering vegan dishes in their buffet I was curious to check it out.

Narayanni's - 10131 81 Avenue - Edmonton AB

Tucked away behind the busy Whyte Avenue hustle and bustle, Narayanni's offers a bountiful buffet of South African Indian dishes. This family-run restaurant has quite the unique exterior, given that the building was a machine shop in the mid 1900's. After three years of renovations the Naidoo family opened Narayanni's in 2010 with the beautiful, warm interior present today.


Hummus
Selva and Daya Naidoo emigrated to Canada from South Africa in the early 1980s and opened up Block 1912 as one of their ventures together. After selling the business and enjoying a few years of retirement, Narayanni's (named after their granddaughter and the Hindu goddess of abundance) came to be. Now on any given day Chef Selva can be found preparing food in the kitchen, while Daya works on desserts or mans the front of house alongside his daughter Youmashni.


Grilled Masala Chicken
Specializing in South African Indian cuisine, Narayanni's offers a buffet with dishes that are lighter than the traditional Indian buffet. Without the use of dairy the flavours and textures of dishes are more prominent, and the buffet is a great option for those with vegan or dairy-free diets. The restaurant is proud to use free-range chicken and local produce whenever possible, and Chef Selva steers clear of artificial colouring, preservatives, and MSG.


Braised Cauliflower & Peas
Narayanni's has always offered a dinner buffet, which changes nightly. Tuesdays feature a $15 cash only vegan buffet, Wednesdays are $15, Thursdays are $20, and Fridays/Saturdays are $25 (Saturday features a lamb!). The restaurant recently introduced a cash only lunch buffet from Tuesday through Friday from 1130 AM - 100 PM. At $12 per person you have access to soup, salad, rice, 3 vegetarian dishes, 1 meat dish, and dessert. It's incredible value - just make sure to visit the ATM before you visit!


Bhajia
My mom and I stopped by for dinner on a Friday night and we were pleasantly surprised by how busy it was. Despite being located behind a busy street, Narayanni's unique cuisine clearly brings in old and new customers. The circular buffet station featuring a variety of dishes sat in the center of the room, with Youshmani in the centre making drinks for guests.

On this particular Friday night, the menu included:

• Appetizers: Papadum, Bhajia (onion & spinach fritters), hummus, mint chutney, sweet mango chutney, lemon pickle dip
• Salads: Mixed green salad, traditional wedding salad, greek salad
• Soup: Curry vegetable soup
• Vegetable dishes: butternut squash, chana dahl & eggplant, braised kale & cabbage, braised cauliflower & peas, paneer
• Meat dishes: Grilled masala chicken, chicken curry, masala fried sole

There were many dishes to choose from and we happily sampled our way through the buffet. To accompany our meal we were offered warm roti to soak up all the sauce on our plates. Unlike the traditional roti at Indian buffets, this one reminded me of a green onion cake - densely layered and super flaky. Of all the dishes that evening my favourites were the braised kale & cabbage and the braised cauliflower & peas. It was a surprise for me as these dishes, which were boring in appearance, turned out to be the the most complex in flavour and texture. Papadums are also a favourite of mine wherever I go, but the hummus and chutneys accompanying these lentil crisps brought them to the next level.

We rounded off our meal with a regular chai and a pistachio chai, both of which were excellent. The regular chai was just slightly sweetened, milky, and fragrant. The pistachio chai, on the other hand, was a little more decadent with notes of almond and topped with whipped cream and crushed pistachios.

At the end of the meal I was satisfied without feeling as weighed down as I would from traditional creamy, buttery-based sauces found in most Indian buffets. And most importantly, the lighter fare didn't sacrifice flavour. The lunch and dinner buffet Tuesday through Friday is affordable, and $25/person for a weekend dinner buffet is decent value, but I would have liked to see an additional protein option at that price point. Narayanni's is fittingly named and representative of the abundance of good food served by Chef Selva. If you haven't been, you'll just have to see (and taste!) for yourself.


*Disclosure: I was invited to try the buffet at Narayanni's Restaurant. Views expressed in this post are solely mine. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.

When in the mood for all you can eat Korean BBQ, most people will think to head to Ginseng Restaurant in the south end of the city. The last time I went out for BBQ at Ginseng was about two years ago for a friend's birthday. I distinctly remember it being expensive, in the $30+ range per person - one of the big reasons why I haven't returned since. Being spoiled by the cheap prices in Vancouver and LA has forced me to stay away from Korean BBQ.. and I've been looking for other options.

Korean Village Restaurant - 7729 85 Street NW - Edmonton AB

Little known fact: when I can't fall asleep at night, I do one of two things: a) open up the FML app on my phone and read, to make myself feel better, or b) troll around on Urbanspoon looking for new places to eat at.

A few weeks back I did the latter, and came across the Korean Village Restaurant. I called them the next day to see if they offer AYCE Korean BBQ, and they do! For the price of $25.95/person.

On the drive over, we felt like we were heading in the wrong direction, as if the map was leading us to the middle of nowhere. We were driving around residential streets, and magically found the restaurant in the middle of nowhere. There are about 2-3 other Korean shops next door.. but really, this restaurant is in a random area.



The interior of the restaurant has a very homey feel to it. There's even a set of stairs that leads to a second floor, to a party room where they can host karaoke.

While Korean BBQ is a self served, self cooked meal, the staff at the restaurant were friendly and very inviting. They prepared hot food (spring rolls, tempura) at our request, and were available when needed.





The selection of food at Korean Village is limited when compared to Ginseng, but the selection available at the restaurant is sufficient to fill any BBQ craving. All the meats available (with exception to the shrimp) are seasoned and marinated perfectly. It all tasted so delicious! My only wish would be for them to have more banchan (side dishes), as they only have kimchi and beansprouts available. Some seaweed salad would be awesome!







After the meal, I gave a call over to Ginseng inquiring about their Korean BBQ. It seems as though their price has dropped from $30+ to $29/person! Seeing as their selection is greater, I would likely head to Ginseng if I craved Korean BBQ. But if I was in the area, I wouldn't hesitate to come back to Korean Village. If you like lots of variety, head to Ginseng. If you prefer a quiet, cozy meal, head to Korean Village.

One thing I should mention about Korean Village though, is that they have a stamp card program. Ater having BBQ nine times, the tenth is on them! So eat up, and check this place out if you're in the area :)

I received some tickets for my family and I to attend the annual Taste of Christmas lunch at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Edmonton. Tickets themselves were $30 for a lunch buffet, inclusive of tax and gratuity, and there were endless dishes available. Being able to have a festive lunch with family in a five star hotel setting is well worth over the price tag of the ticket if you ask me :)

{First Plate}


{Second Plate}


{Dessert}








{Chocolate Button}

Although the chance to dine the buffet has come and gone already this year, keep it in mind & check it out next year!

Another sunny day, and we had nothing to do! Since we've been to Seattle many times before, there's not much of a tourist vibe going on within my family. So in all reality, this trip was just to relax, eat and shop. My favourite things!

Eagles Buffet - Tulalip Casino - 10200 Quil Ceda Boulevard - Tulalip WA 98271

The casino and resort here is operated by the Tulalip tribes, who have a reserve not too far from the Casino. I had never been here before, but suggested we come here for lunch since it was right by the Seattle Premium outlets





And boy am I glad we did!! The set up was reminiscent of a Vegas style buffet, where different stations featured different types of cuisine, and various made to order dishes. Just the smell of the food had me salivating! The buffet was priced at $11.95 per person, with a 15% discount for 'seniors' over the age of 50.

The food was pretty good, and an awesome deal at the price of $11.95. I won't review anything individually, cause there's way too much, so here's a nice food picture spam! I definitely approve of this place when you're out here shopping by the outlets!


General buffet area


Mongolian Grill set up


My creation :)

Something really cute about the buffet was that they had a Mongolian Grill station! Yum! With this, you pick out whatever you want in your stir fry, pick your sauces, and give it to the cook to put together for you. Their sauces were a bit on the bland side though, so I had to add my own extra flavours.


Salad Bar


Chinese food


My first plate!


Mexican






Made to order tortellini with shrimp, mushrooms & peppers in a pesto cream sauce

There were also many other entree stations for items like soup, cold salads, and roast meats, ham, and grilled fish, but I was too busy to take pictures of them. You gotta come here to see it for yourself!

And now I present their VAST dessert selection (I was soooo excited)















So delicious, I was ready to pass out after eating so much!


With the bf, outside the casino

We didn't even realize we were wearing the same colours in our outfits! No wonder people looked at us when we walked around, haha (his sandals were black)

We had planned to go to the Seattle Premium Outlets next to the casino, and to my surprise, I didn't see anything I wanted to buy! That's a first.. so I leave you with a picture of me HAHA


F21 Tee, Alexander McQueen scarf, Mossimo shorts, Aldo sandals, Coach bag, Gucci sunnies